Farishte Irani, Group Head – Copy, Dentsu Creative India, writes about the experience of Day 4 at Cannes Lions 2023, her visit to the Basement, and the session of Talented.Agency’s Co-founders
I’ll be honest: I was incredibly nervous when I landed in Nice. Apart from the fact that I was going to be in the same room as some of the best creatives in the world, I was also plagued with self-doubt that can only be understood by a fellow introvert. What if nobody wanted to talk to me? How does one even network? What if I say something stupid to David Droga (in a hypothetical world where I had lunch with David Droga)? What if someone spoke to me and I miraculously forgot how to speak? None of that happened – including the lunch with David Droga. I entered Cannes as a nervous, jaded creative. And as the final day begins, I leave it an inspired one.
Yesterday’s bit of inspiration came from two places in particular: PG Aditiya and Gautam Reghunath’s “Don’t Quietly Quit, Loudly Start” and the hours spent in The Basement, where the work is showcased.
I hadn’t been to The Basement before, and I quickly realised that it was possibly the most important place to be. While watching case studies are great, seeing the physical work is a different experience. So, I visited The Basement with Shirley, a creative I had met at a talk.
Turns out, creatives actually want to talk to each other. We want to pick each other’s brains, get to know each other’s backgrounds, and exchange memes. All it takes is a simple hello, and suddenly, you have company for hours as you browse through your favourite work together.
The showcase that really stood out to us was Dentsu Creative’s “Get Back, Tohoku”. The individual pieces of art, with their details and intricacies is a lesson in craft. Craft that’s only elevated when you see the physical pieces in the basement. As Shirley observed – “I’m noticing details as an art director that I’ve never noticed before.”
As we walked around exploring more of the work, we had to stop ourselves from trying to sneak out some of the physical pieces back home.
A personal favourite from Print & Publishing, the One Star Cookbook was also there. We were lucky enough to bump into and get talking to a creative who actually worked on this shortlisted, but unawarded piece of work.
While I expected her to ask me what went wrong in the jury room, she was instead, bursting with excitement. Her work had been shortlisted in Cannes Lions. It was being showcased in the basement. That was one of her creative dreams come true. In a moment of philosophical clarity, I realised that award shows can sometimes make us forget about the beauty of simply, doing great work and getting a chance to see it come to life. The happiness of a shortlist is still very much that – happiness.
The talk of the day was of course, PG Aditiya and Gautam Reghunath’s “Don’t Quietly Quit, Loudly Start”, a talk for creatives who want to make their own way (and their own agency). While I have no intention of starting my own agency any time soon, I still attended it for a lesson in healthy, yet award-winning attitude to advertising. The highlight for me was finding out that Talented pays creatives for copy tests – something that I think is a first in advertising. Other agencies will hopefully follow suit, to attract the talent that Talented has clearly become an expert at hiring and honing.
The final event of the day was of course, the award show, where Dentsu Creative was awarded Regional Network Of The Year (Asia) – another testament to the value of shortlists, bronzes, and silvers. Every win, no matter how small, contributed to this accolade. Ogilvy India’s ‘Shah Rukh Khan My Ad’ won the coveted Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness, making India’s night. Leo Burnett won a gold for ‘Airtel 175 Replayed’ and while India roared loudly, the best part was a young lioness going up on stage to receive the award with the official (much older) Leo Burnett team.
Its day 5 now. The final day. After an unbelievable 10 days in the South of France, things go back to regular programming. And while I can already feel my stomach sink at the thought of that, I also know that it’s impossible to have an experience like this and not be a better, hungrier creative.
